Merry Christmas to You... part 5
Merry Christmas To You…Part 5 Tara was blissfully unaware of the evil forces plotting against her and her grand plans, instead she was doing something that she hadn’t done since she was a little girl in the courts of the revered Pharaoh Ramses the Great. Learning from a book! Before her was a massive tome that she had dug up from one of the ancient yet well preserved libraries of this world. Though she had whined and complained to Taz about how dirty and sweaty she had gotten from her endeavor, she was actually quiet happy with what she found in the enormous book. Santa Claus *Santa Claus, also known as Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle, or simply "Santa" is a legendary and mythological figure who, in some cultures, is presented as bringing gifts on Christmas Eve (December 24) or Christmas Day (December 25). The popular North American form Santa Claus is derived from the Dutch Sinterklaas<3>, which in turn is a contracted form of Sint Nicolaas (Saint Nicholas). Santa Claus has a suit that comes in many colors depending on the country. The most common depiction (red with white cuffs, collar, and black leather belt) became the more popular image in the United States in the 19th century due to the significant influence of Thomas Nast. In the mid-20th Century a series of Coca-Cola advertisements featuring a Santa Claus drawn rotund and jovial by artist Haddon Sundblom popularized Nast's depiction. There were many other references about the practice of Christmas and Santa Claus’s role in it, but she skimmed them as there was just too much information, but one part did happen to catch her interest. ** Santa Claus' reindeer are a team of flying animals traditionally held to pull his sleigh and help him deliver Christmas gifts. According to the movie character Kris Kringle (Miracle on 34th Street), they only fly on Christmas Eve. The commonly cited names of the reindeer are based on those used in the 1823 poem A Visit from St. Nicholas, arguably the basis of popularity of reindeer as Christmas symbols.<1> The relevant segment of the poem reads: With a little old driver so lively and quick, I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick. More rapid than eagles, his coursers they came, And he whistled and shouted and called them by name: Now Dasher! Now Dancer! Now, Prancer and Vixen! On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, Donner and Blitzen! To the top of the porch! To the top of the wall! and off and off we will fly! Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all! The original version of the text has: Now! Dasher, now! Dancer, now! Prancer, and Vixen, On! Comet, on! Cupid, on! Dunder and Blixem; The subsequent popularity of the Christmas song Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer has led to another reindeer name joining the proverbial roll-call. In the poem, Santa's transport is a "miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer" and the reindeer are "more rapid than eagles". The poem does not describe them, nor their positions in the sleigh-team, but does say they fly. At this Tara shook her head. “Flying reindeer, men in red suits giving presents to kids around the world in just one night, magic chimney popping, what kind of freaky holiday was this?! “Problems?” came a voice behind her. Tara turned around to see Lion-o enter the library and gasped. “What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be keeping Az occupied!” “’Oh hi Lion-o, how are you doing?’” Lion-o said in a mock female voice, showing his irritation. “’Did you have a good day trying to keep an irate human woman away from Cats Lair while I was running around on a fools errand?’” “Um, I take it you had a tough time with Az?” Tara asked meekly. The young lord glared at her while he answered. “Tough is hardly the word for it. First off, I had to force the woman out of the Lair, claiming that I needed her with me on the patrol route, then I had to make some sort of excuse to take us into the Berbil village because she kept whining about wanting to go home though she wouldn’t tell me why. Then, when she threatened to fly off, I had to act like I was hurt and in terrible pain so she would stay and attempt to heal me. Do you know how humiliating it is to have all those people staring at you while you are howling like a wilder beast in heat?!” Tara was trying her best not to smile, but she just couldn’t help it. The lion was just too cute pacing around, whining about his day with Az. When he caught her face, he snarled at her. “Don’t you dare smirk at me! You have yet to hear the worst of it. After I was supposedly ‘cured’ I had to find yet another way to keep her from going to the Lair. Apparently she was in a lot of pain and not finding me too appealing at the time. In a fit of rage she announced to me and everyone around us in a very clear and loud voice that she was having cramps and that if I didn’t get her home immediately for something for the pain, she was going to vaporize my uniform, chain me to the ground, pour honey all over my genitals and release a horde of angry red ants to feast upon me!” The hybrid’s mouth dropped open. “She said all of that?!” “She most certainly did!” “Uh, well, how, uh, how did you handle that?” Lion-o closed his eyes tightly and let out a large sigh. “I finally convinced her that going to the Lair would take to long to get any kind of medicine and insisted she come with me to the Berbil Bar for a drink.” His eyes popped open and he stared at Tara unbelievingly. “I didn’t know a human could put away so much alcohol and still remain standing! She must have downed nearly half a bottle of Thundarian Whiskey before she gave me the slip.” “Slip? What do you mean? Where is she now?!” Tara asked, half coming out of her seat. Lion-o waved her back down. “She’s upstairs sleeping it off. Seems after she left me at the bar, she flew straight here and went right up to her room. From what I saw, she hadn’t even taken off her uniform yet.” “Ohh,” Tara said shaking her head. “She’s gonna feel that in the morning. We better let Snarf know that she’ll need his morning after powder.” “Serves her right if you ask me!” the indignant lion announced. “And as for you! If you ever want to plan another surprise celebration about a holiday you know nothing about, do me a favor and leave me out of it!” With that he stormed out of the room, leaving Tara to worry what kind of hell he might plan for her later. She looked down at the book in front of her and sighed as she slammed it close. “This old human holiday is becoming more trouble then its worth!” she announced to the air. Deciding that she needed to clear her head, she opted for a refreshing run out under the stars. Quickly she went up to her room and dressed in warmer clothes before slipping out of the Lair and into the winter cooled night. She was grateful that it had yet to snow as slick ice and slushy trails were not the best conditions to run in, but she did wonder if it would snow soon. It had been a dry winter so far and she had to admit that she missed snow. It was to her a symbol of purity, brightness, and renewal. It was also fun to play with what with snowball fights, sledding, skiing, and other enjoyable events. But the clear, cloud free sky over head told her that she would be waiting a while longer. Pulling her gloves on her hands, she sighed only once then began her workout, racing through the brown fields in front of the Lair, past the Berbil and Wollo villages, over the River of Despair, and into the Unicorn Forest. As she ran past the ever vigilant Unicorn Statue, she found herself admiring the perfect beauty of it and never saw the strange man in front of her until he shouted a warning to her. “Look out!!!” Tara turned to see a rather portly man in front of her and tried to skid to the side, but she hit a small patch of ice and slid right into him like a bowling ball striking a pin. Both she and the stranger rolled around for a bit before coming to a heaping stop. The hybrid shook her head as she pushed herself up then let out a yelp when she heard the man beneath her mutter, “Young lady, please get off of me!” Immediately Tara moved off the gentleman offering her apologizes. “I am so sorry sir! I wasn’t paying attention and…wait a minute! What are you doing here in forest anyways?!” The portly gent picked himself up and began to dust his clothes off. “Oh I come here every year to visit some old friends.” As if on cue, the Unicorn keepers showed up and ran over to the strange human man. “Kris! Are you alright?” asked the female keeper. “I’m just fine Ariana, just fine.” he said cheerfully then let out a deep chuckle. “It’s not often I run into such a beautiful and charming young lady, or her into me as the case were. I think the missus will have a good laugh about this one.” Tara stood off to the side just taking in the gent’s attire. Her first impression of him was that he was some kind of peddler from a distant land with his unassuming clothing, but as she inspected him better, she saw that while his clothes seemed out of date and well worn, they were of very good quality. His black leather boots spoke of many miles tread, but shone to a high polish. His pants were a rich wood brown, soft to the touch yet very protective against wind and snow. Around his middle was a soft black leather belt with a pure silver buckle, holding his pants up against his wide girth. His shirt was the color of fresh holly and fitted him well while the cream colored, richly embroidered vest added warmth against the elements. As for the man himself, even though he was obviously overweight, it was not the kind of obesity that you see in the gluttonous. Rather it was that of a man that enjoyed good drink and fine food with good friends. His face, what she could see past his flowing white beard, was kind and gentle, a grandfather’s face, with rosy red cheeks and a ready twinkle in his eyes. “So my dear,” said the gentleman, bringing Tara’s attention back to him, “Do I pass inspection?” “What?” she asked confused, then laughed at herself, for inspecting him was exactly what she had been doing. “I’m sorry about that sir, it’s just that… I’ve never met someone like you before yet you seem familiar.” Again he chuckled. “No, I suppose you wouldn’t have met me before, though I had been a person of importance around here once, but that was long, long ago.” “No, I don’t venture out like I used to, but I do come here every year on this night to visit my long time friends Ariana and Aaron here.” He said, bowing slightly to the Unicorn keepers. “Ariana and Aaron? I didn’t think you had actual names!” she blurted out then looked shocked at her own daring. “Sorry, sorry! That was rude of me.” “Don’t worry about it dear.” said the male keeper with a smile. “Yes, we do have names but we don’t advertise it. It takes away from the mystism of our presence here.” “Ahh, I see.” She said with a smile then started to back away nervously, feeling like a fifth wheel. “Well I’ll let you get back to your visit. Sorry for bothering you all. Have a good night.” She turned to go when the gentleman Kris called out to her. “Wait young lady. There is another reason for my visit here.” Tara turned back, curiosity getting the better of her. “Yes sir?” “You’re Tara, correct?” At her nod he continued. “A little birdie told me that you are trying to create Christmas for a friend of yours. How is that going?” The hybrid gapped at him in surprise. “How do you know about that?!” The kindly gentleman merely smiled at her. “I hear things every once in a while. But back to my question dear, how is it going?” Had it been anyone else, she would have become highly suspicious and taken off running, but something about this man made her feel safe and she blurted out everything. About how sad Az was this time every year, the diary entries and her longing for Christmas, how it was nearly impossible to find any information about it, and how almost no one would help her. “I’m afraid Az will have to have another year with out Christmas again.” she sobbed as the kindly gent pulled her into his side for a shoulder to cry on. “I wanted to do something special for her and I’m such a failure at it!” “There, there , my dear. You are by no means a failure. Just look at it from your friend’s perspective. No one has ever cared about her holidays so she in turn tried not to care either, but you recognized that she missed it and are trying to bring something from her past back into her present, perhaps even her future. It takes a great friend to do such a thing.” “But you don’t understand! From all my research I learned that Christmas is tomorrow. There is no way I can get everything done on time!” “Well of course you can if you have the right help, and I think I know just the people to help you.” Kris brought his fingers to his mouth and let out a piercing whistle. With in a few moments, the sound of sleigh bells could be heard in the distance, minutes more an elaborate red sleigh pulled by a team of four strong reindeer came into sight. Driving the sleigh was a young white haired Thundarian youth with two other Thundarians riding in the back. The sleigh pulled up next to Kris and Tara and stopped. The driver bowed slightly to the portly man before turning around to yell at the young man and woman in the back who had began to start quarreling. “Hey, knock it off you two. We’re here.” After saying that, the young man stepped out of the sleigh followed closely by his brother and sister for a strong resemblance marked them as family. The older gent turned to the hybrid and introduced the new Thundarians to her. “Tara, I would like you to meet Turk. Tab, and Abyssa, fellow countrymen of yours I believe.” Tara nodded at them then waited for the human to explain. “My lady, tonight these three will be your helpful elves.” “Hey! Who you callin’ an elf you jolly fat…” started the younger male Thundarian named Tab but his sister cut him off by covering up his mouth with her hand. “What he means is that we will do what ever we can to help out.” Turk, the oldest of the three, stepped back into the sleigh and held out his hand to her to help her in. Once inside the sleigh, Tara sat down and waited for the younger two to get settled in the back before Turk flicked the reins, sending the reindeer towards Cats Lair. “Thank you sir!” Tara said over her shoulder. “Not at all young lady, it’s what I live for. And do me a favor, please tell miss Linda that Kris Kringle says hello.” “Oh, does she know you?” Kris chuckled again, the sound coming out like a cheery melody. “She surely does my dear. Now have a very Merry Christmas!” As the sleigh rounded the corner, Tara could hear the familiar chuckle resounding through the forest, the cheerful ‘Ho, ho, ho’ warming her heart. Within no time at all, they arrived at Cats Lair where a very worried Taz waited for Tara’s return. Upon seeing her he sighed in relief, then stiffened when he saw the handsome young man sitting next to her. “Who the hell is that?!” he growled as Turk helped her down from the sleigh. “My elves apparently, at least for tonight.” she answered. “I am not an elf!” shouted Tab as he jumped down. “Tonight you are so deal with it!” Abyssa said as she placed a green conical type hat upon his head. “Awww, now don’t you look cute?” she giggled, to which her brother could only growl. “Come on you two, we’ve got work to do.” said Turk as he pulled a few bags out of the back of the vehicle then headed for the Lair. Grumbling, Tab grabbed a few bags and asked, “How in the hells did we get into this mess anyways?” “We tried to lift a magic man’s purse, remember? If we don’t get this thing done tonight, he’s going to use switches on us and pay us in coal!” Abyssa answered as she picked up the last of the bags and followed her brothers inside. Taz only stared at the trio as they entered the lair then looked back at the bright red sleigh. “Uh, Tara? How did this sleigh get here without any snow?” The hybrid only shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know but I’m not going to question it. Tonight just feels like a magical night. Now come help me make Christmas for Az.” Taz again looked at the sleigh then shook his head and followed his love inside where shortly they would transform the Lair into a place of wonder. * Santa Claus reference http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus ** Reindeer reference http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus%27_reindeer